“Years ago, when I was a student at the Joffrey Ballet School, I was dealing with a slew of injuries that sidelined me for the majority of my training year. The expectation was that I was still to come to school every day to help teach other dancers my roles and observe rehearsals from a metal folding chair. I longed to be up dancing, and was now left to simply sit and watch, day after day. Suddenly I couldn’t do the thing that I loved and had been working so hard for. Over a cup of coffee in the West Village I shared my struggles with my friend, Michael Keller. His response has stayed with me since. “Well, it’s time to find out who you are in a folding chair.”

For everyone in the world, this pandemic is truly a watershed moment–or in my case, a folding chair moment. This global crisis is forcing us to see what we have left to hold onto. We see what has meaning in our lives as careers are put on pause, social circles are disbanded, and usual conveniences are literally and figuratively out of stock. The space that has been cleared now gives us the clarity to see what is left when everything around us is canceled, postponed, delayed or simply gone. God is showing us the things we falsely relied upon for so long. We cannot continue to do as we have done before. When we are met with the fragility of earthly things of which we once were so sure of, we feel our vulnerability and can see how easily distracted we have become from things of eternal value.

-Molly Yeo in Life in the Gospel quarterly.gospelinlife.com/no-longer…